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Which is funny because it seems misaligned with Google’s business model. Shouldn’t they be the cheapest option, and generating revenue by ad placements in 3rd p

Which is funny because it seems misaligned with Google’s business model. Shouldn’t they be the cheapest option, and generating revenue by ad placements in 3rd party apps? I suppose the ad value of static images in tiles is low, and there’s no way to ensure that developers honor JavaScript or other interactivity for ads?

joshstrange 3y ago
I mean when it comes to interactive maps you have to load their JS to display them. Unlike OSM you don't have (legit) access to the raw tiles. You would think that base maps would be a loss-leader for them but with it's current pricing that doesn't seem to be the case. Places API or Directions API are even more crazy in pricing that I never even consider using them. I'd love to give exact driving/walking distances but the cost to do so would be astronomical, instead I just use the haversine formula to give "as the crow flies" distances. I would love to see some of the more complicated Google Maps APIs unseated by 3rd party providers (Places/Distance, I guess Solar/Pollen/etc too but I care less about those).
- dheera 3y ago
  > Unlike OSM you don't have (legit) access to the raw tiles Google does serve raw tiles, not free of course https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static/overview?hl=zh-tw https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static...
  - joshstrange 3y ago
    That’s not really “raw tiles” in the OSM or other 3rd party map provider sense. Especially since you can’t save/cache them really (and you can’t use them with something like leaflet legally)
    - dheera 3y ago
      Save them to the blockchain then, they can't do anything about it.
icoder 3y ago
I once was on a project that started out with OSM, but then realised there was nothing that compared to Google's Places API (might be different now) in terms of completeness and correctness. And your are not (or at least were not) allowed to use Places API on top of / in combination with OSM). That's what you get when your consumer directed products are 'free' and thus widely used and thus lot's of stake holders ensure their place is correctly in their database (probably in combination with other, possibly community based, efforts). We relied heavily on Places API and thus were bound to Google Maps API, we did just not see a reasonable way around that.
- skkdhfke 3y ago
  > That's what you get when your consumer directed products are 'free' and thus widely used and thus lot's of stake holders ensure their place is correctly in their database (probably in combination with other, possibly community based, efforts) Would it be crazy yo have the government maintain such a database and make it available to anyone? It seems like the ideal place to join forces and avoid data duplication.
  - ap99 3y ago
    Think about your interactions with the government, e.g. getting a drivers license, passport, filing taxes, parking tickets, etc. Do you want those people managing something like maps or places on maps?
    - baloki 3y ago
      In the UK the government sort of does manage a map that’s used as the basis of a lot of others maps called Ordinance Survey Maps.
    - whoknowsidont 3y ago
      >Do you want those people managing something like maps or places on maps Yes. The USPS is actually pretty good at it too. They even have their own API you can use. >Think about your interactions with the government My public roads, building codes, food safety, food affordability, stable power grids, advanced medical care, space exploration. The government is plenty capable of doing good things, however people letting carefully crafted legislation, get passed or even created, that supports private interests is a societal illness, not a fundamental issue with government capabilities.
martius 3y ago
Google must diversify its source of revenue, that's the purpose of hardware, Cloud, Youtube premium and others. It is also why they sell access to APIs.
ddalex 3y ago
[flagged]
dheera 3y ago
> generating revenue by ad placements in 3rd party apps What worked for websites doesn't work for apps. Have you seen apps with ads built into them? They look horrendous. I usually uninstall them within 5 seconds of seeing them.
- amadeuspagel 3y ago
  I think the OP is talking about ads in the sense of showing certain places more prominently, not banner ads.
nazcan 3y ago
It's hard to ensure, and if a developer wants to, they can show ads themselves.

joshstrange 3y ago

I mean when it comes to interactive maps you have to load their JS to display them. Unlike OSM you don't have (legit) access to the raw tiles. You would think that base maps would be a loss-leader for them but with it's current pricing that doesn't seem to be the case. Places API or Directions API are even more crazy in pricing that I never even consider using them. I'd love to give exact driving/walking distances but the cost to do so would be astronomical, instead I just use the haversine formula to give "as the crow flies" distances. I would love to see some of the more complicated Google Maps APIs unseated by 3rd party providers (Places/Distance, I guess Solar/Pollen/etc too but I care less about those).

dheera 3y ago
> Unlike OSM you don't have (legit) access to the raw tiles Google does serve raw tiles, not free of course https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static/overview?hl=zh-tw https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/maps-static...
- joshstrange 3y ago
  That’s not really “raw tiles” in the OSM or other 3rd party map provider sense. Especially since you can’t save/cache them really (and you can’t use them with something like leaflet legally)
  - dheera 3y ago
    Save them to the blockchain then, they can't do anything about it.

icoder 3y ago

I once was on a project that started out with OSM, but then realised there was nothing that compared to Google's Places API (might be different now) in terms of completeness and correctness. And your are not (or at least were not) allowed to use Places API on top of / in combination with OSM). That's what you get when your consumer directed products are 'free' and thus widely used and thus lot's of stake holders ensure their place is correctly in their database (probably in combination with other, possibly community based, efforts). We relied heavily on Places API and thus were bound to Google Maps API, we did just not see a reasonable way around that.

skkdhfke 3y ago
> That's what you get when your consumer directed products are 'free' and thus widely used and thus lot's of stake holders ensure their place is correctly in their database (probably in combination with other, possibly community based, efforts) Would it be crazy yo have the government maintain such a database and make it available to anyone? It seems like the ideal place to join forces and avoid data duplication.
- ap99 3y ago
  Think about your interactions with the government, e.g. getting a drivers license, passport, filing taxes, parking tickets, etc. Do you want those people managing something like maps or places on maps?
  - baloki 3y ago
    In the UK the government sort of does manage a map that’s used as the basis of a lot of others maps called Ordinance Survey Maps.
  - whoknowsidont 3y ago
    >Do you want those people managing something like maps or places on maps Yes. The USPS is actually pretty good at it too. They even have their own API you can use. >Think about your interactions with the government My public roads, building codes, food safety, food affordability, stable power grids, advanced medical care, space exploration. The government is plenty capable of doing good things, however people letting carefully crafted legislation, get passed or even created, that supports private interests is a societal illness, not a fundamental issue with government capabilities.

martius 3y ago

Google must diversify its source of revenue, that's the purpose of hardware, Cloud, Youtube premium and others. It is also why they sell access to APIs.

ddalex 3y ago

[flagged]

dheera 3y ago

> generating revenue by ad placements in 3rd party apps What worked for websites doesn't work for apps. Have you seen apps with ads built into them? They look horrendous. I usually uninstall them within 5 seconds of seeing them.

amadeuspagel 3y ago
I think the OP is talking about ads in the sense of showing certain places more prominently, not banner ads.

nazcan 3y ago

It's hard to ensure, and if a developer wants to, they can show ads themselves.